Tea for Bears
by Emerald Viper
Summary: A reversed version of the fairy tale "Goldilocks", set in Exalted. An ancient deals with three "adventurers" tramping around her house, breaking her stuff, and drinking all of her tea. Short story - probably four chapters when done.
1. Chapter 1

**Tea for Bears **

**1 – Unwelcome Guests**

Someone was in my house.

That realization came as a bit of a shock. At first, I thought there was a problem with the sky mantis grid, but then I realized that the persistent static was coming from one of the surveillance drones in my courtyard.

If I could have jumped to my feet, I would have. I had been trapped in my manse for days, possibly weeks. None of the clocks were working, so I didn't know how much time had passed. It felt like an eternity.

I was certain that I would have died from dehydration if I hadn't attuned myself to an experimental device, a project of my Mate, Desmond. I'd taken it from him solely because he'd been playing with it at the dinner table like a child. It was final night of Calibration, and since I had no interest in going to the usual festivities, I'd decided to send a very public message to Merela so that all of the gossip-mongers in Meru could see that I wasn't summoning a Demon of the Third Circle or doing anything else unforgivably foolish.

Then, for no reason at all, a dozen Dragonbloods barged into my manse, shouting all kinds of nonsense. They weren't even servants of mine, but the personal retinue of my nearest neighbor. They attacked me unprovoked, and as I was about to teach them a lesson, I stumbled into a crystalline preservation casket.

When I finally came to my senses, the Dragonbloods were gone. I called for Desmond until I grew hoarse, but he didn't answer, and the lid of the casket proved far too heavy for me to lift. In any case, Desmond's toy worked much better than I'd expected it to. Desmond seldom tested anything he crafted, and most of his inventions were far less efficient than they could be. Still, apart from being trapped, I felt remarkably well. I'd have to extend my congratulations to my Mate. He'd finally crafted something I considered worthwhile, and that was no easy feat.

Of course, first I was going to berate him for not coming to rescue me sooner.

The condition of my manse was absolutely infuriating. The Dragonbloods must have broken everything they could on their way in, because half of the systems were either unresponsive or completely out of commission. All of my Clockwork Servitors were making tea, because it was the last instruction I'd been able to give them. The tea-making was especially irritating, as they'd set numerous cups on top of my casket where I couldn't reach them.

Worse still, my perception had been limited to the interior of my laboratory until that moment. I stared at that tiny spot of flickering static, the first heartbeat of the outside world that I'd been able to sense.

"Help!" I shouted. "Can you here me?"

There was no response.

"I am Altessa, Weaver of the Wyld, Chosen of the Unconquered Sun and Exalted of the Twilight Caste! I am trapped in the basement in a godsforsaken box! Get me out of here and I will give you anything you want!" I'd promise the intruders all the tea in the South if that was what it took. All I cared about was my freedom.

Again, nothing.

"Release me or you will rue the day you were born!"

I seethed. It was no use. If there was an intruder, they obviously could not hear me.

"I AM, courtyard! Main display!" I ordered.

The image expanded on the large screen. I tried to crane my neck to see it more clearly, but there was only so far I could go. It's not easy to get a good view from inside of a casket, even one with a glass lid.

The main display sputtered. For a moment I feared that it was broken, like virtually everything else.

"Sun in Glory, _work, _damn you!" Some might think it foolish to snap at thing with no mind of its own, but being Twilight Caste, I do have a certain... _effect_ on anything technological.

The screen flared to life and I smiled slightly at the sun. I couldn't feel its warmth in my casket, but I could imagine it. I did not see any intruders. The azaleas were overgrown, and blocking the lens of my drone, which seemed to be immobile, probably stuck in a tree again.

"I AM, have a Clockwork Efficacy Gardener retrieve that drone."

Years ago, I'd upgraded all of my surveillance drones with motion sensors. It made them very efficient, but it also made them prone to shutting off if they saw no reason to remain active. I personally dislike anything that wastes an inordinate amount of Essence.

As Mother always said, just because one _has _power, does not mean that one ought to squander it.

The drone that had flared to life so briefly went dead again. The sound of static was back.

"I AM, show me where that infernal noise is coming from!" I demanded.

The drone in question was lying on the steps, a few feet from my front door. It was pointed at the wall, and wobbled uselessly when I tried to turn it with my mind.

All I saw was a broken teacup, and three pairs of feet. The first, a big pair in clunky leather boots, belonged to a man who looked like a soldier. Some distance behind him was another man wearing monk shoes, and finally, a small pair of bare feet, obviously belonging to a woman. They all looked woefully pedestrian. It wasn't Desmond or any of my Circle who had come to find me, but a party of strangers.

From what little I could see of their clothing, I suspected they were mortals... which left me at a loss to guess how they'd gotten past my guardian demons. I couldn't help but wonder what had become of the woman's shoes.

"Is this the entrance?" The big man asked. He had an unusual accent.

"You see any other giant orichalcum doors?" The tiny woman sighed, bending down to examine the pieces of my shattered teacup. As she approached my broken drone, I got a better look at her. She was very pretty with long black hair, and her round face made her look young, although there was something in her eyes that made me wonder how old she really was. She had an accent too, although not quite as pronounced as the big man's. I wondered where the three hailed from.

It seemed like an eternity since I'd last had company. Desmond didn't count. He was always whoring around, or meddling with my experiments and making a general nuisance of himself. He was clever enough for a Lunar, but there were a great many things that he simply had no interest in.

Still, at that moment I would have gladly suffered his presence, or even that of horrible, prattling Verdant Coral. I'd gladly invite even mortals to tea. My stupid Servitors had already made enough of it for me to give a cup to every God and Goddess in Yu-Shan.

But I wasn't only angry.

I was also very afraid that Desmond's toy would fail, and I would waste away in my cold tomb, with only my failing constructs for company.

"Can you get us in, Recluse?" The big man asked.

The monk stepped forward. He put his hand on the door and considered it for a moment. I could only see his back, but he had a shock of red hair that looked very un-monklike and reminded me distinctly of a friend of mine I hadn't seen in decades.

"I AM, can you open the door?" I asked.

No response. There was no point in asking questions. If I gave an order the Artificial Intelligence could process, it would do as I asked. Otherwise, it was useless. I hesitated for a moment. I'd almost forgotten that the three were strangers trying to break into my manse, probably intending to rob me blind.

There was also a chance that the strangers were allies of the Dragonbloods... and if they were, they would certainly take advantage of my vulnerable state. Even if they couldn't hope to defeat me in a fair fight, they could certainly cut the power flowing to my casket, which would also deactivate Desmond's device... the only thing keeping me alive.

It didn't matter. I had nothing left to lose.

"Open the door," I announced.

The system was slow in responding. I could see that there was something wrong with the lock, but just as I was about to start running a diagnostic, the doors blew right off their hinges. They hid the floor with a resounding clang, scuffing up the marble for ten feet. I didn't see who had done the damage, but parts of the metal were also melting.

I stared in shock. I could feel the vibrations of whatever the three had done through the ceiling above my head. "Barbarians!" I cursed. "What did you do that for!"

I'd been about to let three mortals into _my _manse, share _my _tea with them, and possibly even instruct the kitchen to fix them something indescribably lovely to eat... and _they_ hadn't even given me enough time to unlock the door I'd spent two centuries constructing!

They were worse than_ barbarians_, they were _animals_!

"You stupid, stupid... _bears_!" I cursed, not knowing what possessed me to use that unusual insult. It was one I typically saved for Desmond. Being a Lunar, he didn't think it was rude at all, but I felt that it encompassed heavy-handed and slow rather well. "You're not getting any tea!"

"Tea?" The woman blinked in surprise. "Who said anything about tea?

I nearly forgave all of the fools for the damage they'd done.

"Can you hear me?" I shouted. "Oh, for the love of all that's holy, _please_..."

"Is someone there?" The big man called out.

"Yes! Yes I'm here! I'm trapped downstairs. Please, please get me out of here!"

"How do we reach you?" The woman asked.

"I'm talking to you right now through a drone. Find it... it's somewhere over to your left," I finished.

"Loren, watch your step!" The monk warned. "It's right behind you!"

That warning came too late. There was a loud crunch, and the screen went dark.

I twitched. I was too exhausted to stay furious. It was time for me to do what I did best.

I needed to be _clever_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Tea for Bears **

**2 – The East Wing**

There were several doors leading out from the main entry hall, and I had no way of knowing which one the three "bears" would choose. I scoured the entire area for drones. Unfortunately, most of the ones I could find were somehow incapacitated, either buried in rubble or simply broken. The few that I could activate showed me a shockingly dismal picture of my once beautiful home. It was in worse condition than I'd feared. My manse looked clean by comparison. There were teacups everywhere, and in some rooms the walls and the ceiling were actually crumbling.

"So much for the Art of Permanence," I grumbled, not that anyone was listening to me. Though my senses did not extend beyond my casket, I got the distinct impression that something worse than common housebreakers was responsible for the destruction I observed. With the way some of the walls and floors were damaged, it looked less like vandalism and more like encroaching Wyld.

That, of course, was a very bad thing. If my main defenses were failing, I had to free myself, and quickly too. Getting swallowed by the Deep Wyld was the only death I could imagine which made imprisonment and slow starvation seem preferable.

It must have taken me ten minutes to catch up with my uninvited guests, and when I finally did, it was through the lens of an old drone permanently mounted in the ceiling. I couldn't use it to communicate, which was what I wanted to do most, but at least I could see and hear what was going on.

The big man and the barefoot woman were in the East Wing, standing in the middle of the ballroom and staring up at the doors twenty feet above their heads. They seemed oblivious to the large white tile which read "Stairs". Their companion, the red-headed monk, was ten feet away, studying Desmond's mural. I'd heard the others call him "Recluse".

I turned the drone as far as I could to get a better look at him. The monk didn't really look like a monk, except for his simple white clothing. He had a pair of fine little gold glasses perched on his nose, and his thin hands with their very long fingers made me suspect that he was either an artist or a musician. There was also the possibility that my doors had been broken using some kind of sorcery. If that was the case, I was certain that he was the one responsible for the damage.

Not that I was intimidated. Even if he did know a spell that I didn't, few sorcerers could match my prowess. Brigid, Devon, and perhaps Bright Shattered Ice... but that was a very short list. I had earned my sobriquet "Weaver of the Wyld" in the most dramatic way possible. Large scale terra-forming was my specialty. Offensive spells were child's play by comparison.

"This painting is quite impressive," Recluse remarked. The others ignored him. They were too busy considering how to destroy another one of my lovely doors.

I'd named them right. Three _bears_, stomping around in my house. But perhaps they were not _all _animals. Perhaps the monk was different. He seemed to be genuinely interested in Desmond's work, which meant that he had good taste.

Though I lamented my Mate's approach to crafting, I had to confess that his artistic ability was something to be envied. The mural showed one of the last battles of the War and Desmond had placed me, not in the center of the piece in a position that would look arrogant, but where I had actually been, somewhere in the back preparing to cast a spell. I also approved of how he had depicted Mother, facing her five proud and rebellious daughters. She seemed to be hesitating, one hand reaching towards the Gods, and the other reaching back in the direction of the falling Primordials. I preferred to remember her that way. History had judged her too harshly. She deserved better.

Still, I had more important things to worry about than such long-ago battles. I turned my attention back to the other intruders. They were still staring up at the door, stupid expressions on their faces.

It was nice to appraise them from a reasonable vantage point, rather than looking up from the floor. The big man was blond and quite tall with striking blue eyes and a certain noble bearing. He didn't seem to be especially clever, but there was something very genuine and likeable about him. At very least, he was easy on the eyes. He was dressed in old lamellar armor that appeared to be army issue, although the insignia on his chest was nothing I recognized. I might have called him a Fire-Aspect, but if he was a Dragonblood, he was poorly bred.

I'd heard Recluse call the big man "Loren", right before he'd crushed my drone. It was a soft sounding name, and although he was clearly a soldier, there was something about it which suited him.

"Why would someone put a door way up there?" Loren wondered. "How do you get to it?"

"There are stairs," I replied, although I knew he could not hear me.

"It's not that high. I could jump," The woman suggested.

"And open the door?" Loren laughed. "What if it's locked?"

"Oh," the woman paused. Apparently she hadn't considered that possibility. "So what do you want to do? Should we go back the other way?"

"You could use the stairs," I repeated, not that it would make any difference.

"No, I don't think so," Loren said. He was responding to the woman, and he couldn't hear me, but he still sounded perfectly absurd. "That door must go somewhere. There has to be a way to get to it,"

"The _stairs_, imbecile!" I groaned.

"Hm, what's this?" Recluse observed. He'd drifted in a circle all the way around the room and came to a stop in front of the tile which read "Stairs". He pushed the tile. There was a grinding sound that made me grimace, and the stairs slowly unfolded out of the floor.

"What did you just do?" Loren demanded.

"S_tairs_," the monk pointed to the tile, a smirk on his face.

I smiled slightly myself. I was beginning to like him.

A drone activated as the doors opened, and I switched my view. I was stuck in the ceiling and couldn't turn very far, but I could see the woman's back. I couldn't hear what she said to either of the men, but they all spent a few moments admiring Desmond's art collection. Another drone switched on as the monk passed the table at the end of the hall. I was looking directly at a tea cup.

The woman reached out and picked it up.

"Sapphire? Please tell me you're not going to drink that tea," Loren said.

"It's still warm," the woman, Sapphire, replied. I wasn't at all surprised by her name. Pretty as she was, she also looked like a whore, and they were always called things like "Lily" or "Crystal".

"Of course it is! These idiot servitors of mine won't stop making it! It's all they do! Tea! And more tea! Have some tea! You can ask for something else, but you won't get anything else! I hope you like tea!" It made me feel better to rave a little. I took a deep breath and composed myself.

Another idiot servitor set a fresh cup of tea on top of my casket, almost blocking my view of I AM's screen. "Not _there_, you worthless heap of scrap!" I cursed. "No! No tea! No tea!"

It was futile. I'd given that command countless times already, and it never had any effect.

Sapphire sipped the tea. She immediately gagged.

"You shouldn't have done that," Loren observed.

"Gods, tell me something I don't know? These people were supposed to lives of unparalleled luxury and they don't even have decent tea?" She rolled her eyes. "It tastes like dishrags!"

I sighed heavily. "Oh, this is humiliating!" I banged my fists on the lid of my casket. "Did you hear that, you stupid machines? Your tea is terrible! Now_ stop making it_!"

No response. Of course, I hadn't actually expected one. I tried to activate the nearest drone, and to my surprise, it actually responded. Sapphire was the first to notice it wobble, and she immediately drew her firewands.

Recluse relaxed first. "It's just an observation drone," he reassured his companions. "Like the one you stepped on before."

"It moved," Sapphire said. "Someone's watching us?"

"Yes, dear," I sighed. Knowing that I couldn't be heard left me with a burning desire to say something especially rude. "And it's a good thing you're lovely, because you are an absolute ignoramus! Now pay attention! I'm only going to do this once!"

I pushed the drone again, and it rolled off the table. Ahead of me, I could see the glass doors that led to the greenhouse, and decided to coax the intruders in that direction.

"Where is it going?" Loren wondered.

"Do you think it wants us to follow it?" Sapphire asked.

"Oh, for the love of..." I groaned. "There's a _drone_ rolling down the hallway! Yes, follow it!"

That was when something very disturbing happened. The ground began to shake beneath me, and for a moment the lights actually flickered _off._ It should have been impossible for me to lose power, considering where I drew it from. In over two-thousand years, such a thing had never happened. Obviously, the geomancy of my manse was very seriously damaged. I was running out of time.

When I regained contract with my drone, it was rolling very fast. I realized as I approached the greenhouse doors that I couldn't slow it down, and I winced as the drone hit a bump in the floor and flew into the air, crashing through the glass.

It was yet another thing I knew I'd have to fix, but with the threat of the Wyld looming, I'd have time to cry over broken doors later. The screen went for a few moments, and all I heard was static. I felt sure that I'd destroyed the drone, but then I heard the sound of leaves crunching underfoot.

Apparently a little tumble had actually done the drone some good. It reactivated and leapt into the air at my command, although it hovered in a nauseating manner. I tried to stabilize it, but caught only glimpses of the greenhouse whirling around me. Loren was hacking his way through overgrown rose bushes. The entire place, which had been so lovely and well-organized, looked like a primeval forest. With the way Sapphire wrinkled her nose, I realized that it probably smelled more like a moldy compost pile.

I was now certain that the Wyld was bleeding in, and at an alarming rate. A snakebud seedling I'd planted only a few weeks ago had grown far beyond the bounds of its pot, devouring most of the floor and metamorphosing into a huge, gnarled old tree.

"I AM, where are the gardeners?" I demanded, not that I expected an answer.

I hoped they weren't making tea.

"You know, there's a legend about a place like this," Sapphire remarked. "An island in the Deep Wyld. It's supposed to inhabited by a powerful sorceress who's been sleeping for a thousand years."

"I don't think I've heard that one. How does the story end?" Recluse wondered.

"It doesn't, I guess. Or if it does, I don't know," Sapphire admitted. "You should probably ask Rhapsody."

I gathered that was someone they all knew, because Loren and Recluse both nodded. Sapphire drifted towards my snakebud tree, and as she reached out to touch it, I saw a vine beginning to recoil.

"Get back! You're scaring it!" I ordered.

She jumped, and I realized that she'd actually heard me. Unfortunately, it was too late. The tree struck and Sapphire shrieked as it seized her leg, and pulled her into its branches. Vines coiled around her, and a large bud began to open, showing an intimidating array of razor-sharp teeth.

"Help! It's trying to eat me!"

"Of course it's trying to eat you! It's a carnivorous tree!" I shouted. "Hit it! Hit it hard!"

Loren and Recluse both turned slowly, noticing the drone I controlled.

Sapphire screamed again. "Do something, damnit! I can't reach my firewands!"

"Don't look at me, this is an observation drone! It doesn't have any weapons! Go! Save your stupid friend!"

The two charged the tree. Recluse was obviously a skilled martial artist, and he managed to free Sapphire. Loren hacked off several of the larger vines... not enough to cause any permanent damage, but enough to make the tree quite upset. It hissed and flailed, at least until he hurled his sword at it. The blade pierced deep into the trunk, and I wondered what he was thinking, throwing away a weapon like that.

I heard some mumbled words that sounded like a Charm and two deafening firewand shots before the snakebud tree lashed out at my hovering drone and sent it flying right through the ceiling. It went up a good distance over the roof and through my shield, out into the Wyld. There was another bang, which I guessed was the sound of my drone either exploding or being inexplicably transformed into a grapefruit.

Everything went dark.

"Damnit," I cursed. "I should have listened to Desmond."

It was rare that I gave him credit for anything, but my Mate had warned me that large snakebud trees could prove unmanageable, and he'd clearly been right about that. The stupid tree had very nearly killed the intruders... which wouldn't have necessarily been a bad thing if I hadn't been trapped and counting on the three of them to rescue me.

Switching from drone to drone wasn't getting me anywhere. I needed more mobility if I planned to guide the three fumbling bears and prevent them from destroying my entire house. I scanned the list of my household constructs, mentally striking off all of the ones I couldn't locate, like the gardeners, and the ones I knew I couldn't control, like the tea-making servitors. My eye caught an inconsistency on the list, a very old serial number. Whatever it was, it was something I hadn't tried activating recently.

"My dog! Of course!" I exclaimed, amazed that I hadn't considered such a thing earlier.

"I AM, activate my dog!" I ordered.

My dog was in its little house, lying in a puddle of something foul. I wasn't sure if it was excrement from the snakebud tree, or fluids leaking from somewhere else, but my poor pet was in a sorry state. It rose to its feet with a nasty grinding sound and walked with a limp. Fortunately, it could still see and hear, which was something.

"Over here!" I shouted.

My dog barked. Everyone looked very nervous, which I supposed was to be expected, considering they'd just been attacked by a tree.

"Is everyone all in one piece?" I asked.

My dog whined. "Oh. Wonderful," I rolled my eyes. "You can't understand me, because_ I'm a dog_!"

As I continued talking to myself, my dog made another unusual noise that I didn't remember programming. Loren seemed ready to attack the construct, but Recluse stopped him.

"It's just a construct," he said. He made a tight little circle around my dog, evaluating it with a critical eye. "Well, a_ spectacular _construct. Even by Solar standards. There's a... certain refinement in craftsmanship. Beautiful work."

I was pleased that he appreciated my skill, and to show him that I meant well, I hobbled over to the door where a cup of tea was sitting on a little wooden garden table. I wasn't sure if it was warm or cold, or how long it had been where it was, but if I meant to get the cooperation of the intruders, I had to show them that I wasn't "just a construct".

"Look!" I said. My dog barked, and I made it nose the teacup.

"The tea?" Recluse observed.

"_You're not getting any tea?"_ Sapphire swore incoherently. Apparently she wasn't as stupid as I'd thought she was.

Recluse pushed his little glasses up on his nose and took the cup of tea. Even though he knew that it would taste terrible, he sipped it politely. "This tea is _awful,_" he remarked, not talking to the construct, but directly to me. He'd obviously guessed what I was trying to do.

"Sorry about that," I replied. My dog made a strange whuffing noise, another sound that I'd never heard before. I wondered if Desmond hadn't meddled with it. He wanted us to have a "real" dog, and when I refused to get one, he'd moped for days. I did feel a bit guilty when I saw how much it obviously meant to him, but I hadn't apologized.

As I realized that I might never see him again, I found myself wishing that I'd made that small concession. I'd always taken Desmond for granted. Perhaps that was why he'd left and not come back.

Loren surveyed the snakebud tree warily. The three had made short work of the poor thing. It was bleeding considerably, burned in several places, and missing most of its limbs. I suspected that it would probably die soon, but it was still flailing and hissing,

Sapphire knelt down on the floor. A few pieces of tile were broken, and a circuit was exposed. She examined it. It was part of a tiny water pump and no real danger, but any energy disturbance could interfere with my tenuous connection to the construct I was controlling.

"Don't touch that!" I scolded her, although I knew she couldn't understand me.

My dog barked, and she hesitated.

"Why is everything still running?" She demanded, turning to her companions as she slowly stood. "I've been in tombs with demons and traps before, but all the servitors, that dog, the tea? What if there_ is _someone here?"

"Sapphire, we've already been over this. It's impossible," Loren argued.

"No!" I bashed my head against the lid of my casket several times. My dog whined and covered its head with its paws. "Are your brains damaged? I just spoke to you!" I shouted. "Imbecile!"

"We all heard that voice, didn't we?" Sapphire retorted. "It spoke to us twice now."

"A recording, probably. Or a dysfunctional artificial intelligence?" Recluse suggested.

That wasn't actually a bad guess, but it still frustrated me. I desperately wanted to be found. My dog seemed to be working, but perhaps there were other ways to get their attention. I found the protocol for the water pump, and shot a stream ten feet into the air. It wasn't much of a message, but it did get all three of my intruders soaking wet. They all glanced at one another doubtfully and gave my dog their undivided attention. I smiled slightly at my tiny victory.

"So you are controlling this place?" Recluse wiped his face on his sleeve. Once again, it seemed that he was speaking, not to the construct, but directly to me.

"It could be a trap!" Loren argued. "This place has been cut off too long for anyone to have survived. Even the greatest artifacts have their limits. There's no such thing as an infinite energy source!"

"What about a primordial?" Recluse suggested.

"Ooh! Give the clever boy a cup of tea!" I exclaimed. My dog bounced and wagged its tail.

Recluse was very smart to have guessed such a thing. An infinite energy source was not something most Solars had access to, but I was a special case. Only seven Solars had survived the Primordial War, and I alone had found a way to harness the power of the vast world-shaping entities we had slain. Even dead, Primordials were phenomenally powerful, and just a piece of one could provide a virtually endless supply of raw Wyld to be shaped and utilized. Using such energy in lieu of Essence could be done, but it was tricky business. Fortunately, Mother had taught me very well.

Still, I did not feel much like bragging. Something about the Loren's certainty worried me.

How long had I been unconscious? I suspected that the preservation casket had frozen me, because I'd woken up feeling cold and stiff, but since my servitors were still making tea, I thought it had only been a few days. What if it had been much longer than that?

"Can you answer yes or no questions? Two barks for yes?" Recluse suggested.

"Yes! Yes!" I exclaimed. Finally, we were getting somewhere!

"Are you a construct?" He asked.

"No," I replied.

"Not a construct," Loren observed.

"But you're controlling the constructs? All of them?" He pressed.

I hesitated.

"Some of them. The ones that aren't broken?" Sapphire clarified.

"Yes." My dog barked twice.

"So... if you're not a construct, and you're not an Artificial Intelligence... what _are_ you?" Recluse asked.

I realized that I had no way of answering that question, at least until I remembered the water pump.

I hobbled over to a muddy spot and made a circle of dog-prints on the sole remaining patch of white tile. Careful not to smudge my work, I drew a line through the center of my circle, completing the most shameful depiction of the Mark of the Twilight Caste ever created.

Recluse cursed incoherently.

The other two only stared gravely at the unmistakable symbol on the floor.


	3. Chapter 3

Tea for Bears

3 - The West Wing

After some whispering amongst themselves, the three "bears" left my greenhouse. I tried to follow them, but something stopped my dog dead in its tracks. I realized belatedly that I'd come to the invisible fence, a barrier I had painstakingly created specifically to keep the greenhouse and outdoor constructs out of the bedrooms and places they might track unwanted dirt. It would not be easy to dismantle the barrier, and there was a chance that I might let some Wyld-mutated trouble into my house if I meddled with it. More importantly, I couldn't afford to waste any more time.

"That construct can't leave this area, can it?" Recluse observed.

I sighed in defeat. My dog whined.

"So which way do we go from here? To the right?" He pointed.

I told him no.

"Through the big doors?"

"Yes, through the big doors," I nodded.

"Well, we'll come back this way if we run into any trouble," he promised.

The fact that the three had scurried away so quickly made me doubt that they would return. I'd scared them, and they were obviously trying to get away from me. The terrible thing was, they were succeeding. I started searching the halls for more drones, and as I checked inside a storage closet, something else stirred to life.

It was a Vigilant Perimeter Guardian, and it could hear Recluse and the others tramping closer. I seized control of the construct and tried to open the closet door. It couldn't turn the knob, and I realized belatedly that it was missing a hand. What it did have, however, was a weapon. I raised the Essence cannon to eye level and prepared to fire.

The door opened, and before I could stop myself, the Guardian shot a brilliant burst of Essence right over Loren's head. All three of the intruders hit the floor.

"Oh, sorry!" I winced. I'd meant to catch them, not kill them. They all stared up at me as I dunked out of the closet. Even Loren looked tiny from the perspective of the massive construct. "I was just trying to get the door open, and it appears that I am missing a hand. Can you hear me now?" I asked.

"Yes," Recluse paused.

"So now you're controlling that monstrosity? Are you really a Solar?" Sapphire demanded.

"Do you think I would I claim to be if I wasn't one?" I sighed.

"Stranger things have happened," Loren shrugged. "What's your name?"

"My name? Sun-in-Glory, you don't even know whose _house _you've broke into?" I retorted. "I'm Altessa, _idiots_!Weaver of the Wyld, and Chief Archivist of the Deliberative!"

Loren immediately jumped back and drew what was left of his sword, which was broken in half, probably from the business with the snakebud tree. Recluse slipped into a comfortable fighting stance. Sapphire pointed her firewands squarely at my construct's chest.

"It's a trick," Loren hissed. "I told you so!"

"You _can't _be Tess! Tess is dead!" Recluse protested.

"I am not dead! And _you _can't call me Tess! Only my friends can call me Tess, and I've no idea who you people are! And for your information, I am _trying _to help you! The Wyld is about to come crashing into this place, and I can't stop it, not unless you get me out of here. What are you doing in my house anyway?" I demanded.

"Trying to retrieve my research," Recluse admitted.

"Your research? In my house?" I laughed.

"It's not funny. You stole it from me!" Recluse protested.

"Stole it? Why? What could I possibly learn from some _monk_?" I scoffed.

"Gods, you are _insufferably _arrogant! And for your information, I'm not a monk!" He argued.

"So why are you _dressed_ like a monk?" I taunted.

"Recluse is dressed like a monk for the same reason that I am dressed like a soldier, and Sapphire is dressed like a whore. A very unfunny joke," Loren replied. "I don't suppose you know the name Himitsu?"

"Never heard it before," I admitted. "Well, monk, I don't have your stupid research, but I'll give you anything you like if you get me out of here."

"No deal," Loren interrupted. "We're not helping any Deathlords."

"Deathlord?" I blinked. I had never heard that word before. I was not accustomed to encountering things I knew nothing about. I was immediately worried, but I refused to let my fear get the better of me. "But I'm not a Deathlord!" I argued.

"Which is _exactly_ what a Deathlord would say if they wanted to trick us into helping them," Sapphire replied.

"Argh! You're infuriating, do you know that? I can't help you if you don't help me!" I sighed.

"Now you sound like a Sidereal," Recluse observed.

"You little troll! Oooh, do _not _make me come up there!" I warned.

"I thought you were_ trapped_," Loren smiled slightly. "You can't trick us. Don't waste your time."

The three ignored me and started walking away. I tried to follow them, but my construct took two steps and refused to move any further. It was leaking cooling fluid everywhere.

"Damnit, I am not done talking to you!" I shouted.

The construct collapsed. For a moment, I stared at the floor.

A faint rumbling drew my attention back to my physical body. It was another tremor, and far worse than the first one. I was running out of time, and the three fumbling bears were wandering off in the direction of my airship hanger. Obviously, it was necessary to take drastic action.

"I AM," I took a deep breath. "Activate weapons systems."

Two drones flared to life as the intruders reached the top of the stairs. I ignored them. I watched Loren through the scope of a miniature Essence cannon mounted inside the wall and waited for him to step out where I could see him clearly. I tried to fire a few warning shots at his feet, but the weapon was so far out of alignment that the first blast broke a window and the shattered a teacup ten feet away.

"Damnit!" I cursed. "Desmond, wherever you are! You are _never _calibrating anything again!"

Though the Essence burst didn't do any real damage, it did get their attention. Recluse pointed out my drones, and Sapphire shot both of them down with her firewands. I fired the essence cannon twice more to no real effect, and then realized I couldn't actually aim it. I emptied the weapon's entire ammunition supply in frustration, but I couldn't turn it far enough to force Loren downstairs. He led the three of them directly into my hangar, which was the place I'd been trying to keep them out of. If they couldn't be trusted not to break down my doors and kill my plants, I certainly didn't want them anywhere near my warstrider.

"I AM, lock that door!" I ordered. I had a better idea.

Loren must have realized right away that he'd made a mistake, because he immediately started banging on the doors. He was surprisingly strong and even managed to dent the steel with his punches, but I knew he wouldn't be able to get through a quarter-inch of fine orichalcum plate. I smiled slightly. I was prepared to let the intruders out, but not until I made damned sure that they would not try to avoid me again.

There was a drone sitting in a puddle of tea on my workbench, and it activated as soon as the doors closed. At very least, I had a good point of observation. I surveyed my hanger. The roof was in good condition. Desmond's Swift Shrike was gone, which didn't surprise me, but there were two warbirds in for repairs, and my warstrider, Callisto. She was relatively undamaged, but I couldn't activate her, not with half of her controls sitting in neat little piles on my work table.

There were teacups everywhere, and my tools had obviously been ransacked. Someone had been looking for something, although I couldn't imagine what.

"Attention!" I announced.

No response. Of course. I'd chased them right into another room where they couldn't actually hear me.

"Gods, I hate this house! Was I drunk when I designed it?" I cursed. "When I get out of here, I'm throwingit_ all _back into the Wyld!"

It seemed like a bold thing to say, mostly because I wasn't sure I could actually _prevent_ my island from destroying itself. If I pretended I'd torn it apart on purpose, at least I wouldn't lose face in Meru. But then again, I suspected I had more important things to worry about than the general pettiness of my fellow Deliberators.

I turned my attention back to my caged bears.

"We're locked in," Sapphire observed, staring at the door.

"Yes, and you will stay that way until you listen to me!" I replied spitefully.

"This is a disaster," Loren buried his head in his hands.

"Tell me something I don't know," I sighed.

"So what do you think? Deathlord? Sidereal?" Sapphire pressed.

"I'm not so sure. In fact... I'm beginning to think this might be the real Tess we're dealing with. Or an impression of her personality connected to a _very _powerful AI. Not much difference, really," Recluse admitted.

I did not like that he called me "Tess" with such familiarity. How did he know me? I was sure I'd never met him before, but I knew we were connected somehow. That was a feeling I couldn't shake.

"Are you crazy?" Sapphire demanded. "Either it's an AI we're dealing with... or a real, _living,_ ancient Solar! That's a pretty bigdifference!"

"Not from my perspective. Whatever it is, it's old, it's clever, it's trapped inside a box, and it's perfectly capable of killing us," Recluse replied.

"Do you think we should try talking to it again?" Loren wondered.

"I don't know," Recluse admitted. "I do know that it shouldn't be my decision. I'm too close to this one, emotionally speaking. I want to believe it _is _Tess. That I was wrong about her, and she's alive, and not a..."

"Deathlord," Sapphire supplied. "Yeah, we get it."

Recluse sighed. The three were silent for a long while. They stared at each other, sipping on cups of tea.

"You know, this tea is not so bad when you get used to it," Loren admitted.

Recluse wrinkled his nose. His gaze slowly drifted in the direction of the terminal closest to him.

"Is that an I AM terminal?" Sapphire wondered.

"I suppose I could turn it on," Recluse paused.

"Yes, you brilliant man! Oh, I could kiss you!" I exclaimed.

"Do it," Loren decided.

The terminal sparked to life.

"I AM, we'd like to talk to the lady of the house," Loren announced.

"And I would _love_ to talk to you, but I can't access this stupid thing directly! Give me a moment, please!" I quickly closed the lists of constructs and drones I'd been perusing, and went for my terminal screen... but before I could connect to the hanger, I AM actually responded to Loren's request.

"The Mistress is indisposed," it said.

"Oh, _now you answer questions_!" I threw my hands in the air and accidentally whacked my pinky finger on the lid of the casket. "Ow!" I exclaimed, shaking my hand furiously.

"I see. And how long has the mistress been "indisposed?" Loren asked.

I AM's response was slow, and yet clearly decisive. "750,000 days. Sixteen hours and forty-three minutes."

"Seventy-five thousand days?" Recluse cursed. "That's... why, that's 1,500 years!"

1,500 years? I knew that it was possible that I had been frozen when I fell into the preservation casket, but for so long?

"Since the Usurpation. Oh _gods_. She doesn't know about the Usurpation!" Sapphire gasped.

That word meant something, I was sure of it. All three of the intruders suddenly looked very serious, and very sad. I felt suddenly cold. "Desmond!" I shouted. "Damnit, Desmond! Get me out of here!"

I don't know why I called for him again. I suppose it was because I finally realized that her wasn't coming back. I rubbed the fine little moonsilver ring I always wore and kissed it several times, cursing my stupidity, and feeling like an absolute monster. I'd been frozen for centuries, just like the sorceress in Sapphire's story. If my manse hadn't started to fail, perhaps I never would have woken up at all. And in all the time I'd been sleeping, no one had come for me. Desmond was probably dead... and the last thing I'd ever said to him had been rude and cruel. I was still alive, not because I'd gotten lucky or because of my Mate's clever toy. No one had come for me, because everyone who cared about me was _gone._

"Is someone crying?" Sapphire paused.

I immediately composed myself. They could hear me.

"I was not crying," I said. "But I am very upset with all of you."

"I suppose that's why you locked us in here?" Loren observed.

"It serves you right. You broke down my doors, barged into my house, attacked my plants, destroyed my drones, and now you're drinking all my tea!"

Loren had at least six empty cups behind him. He smiled slightly. "Well, pardon our intrusion, but we do find it rather difficult to believe you are who you say," he admitted.

"Because I'm supposed to be dead," I supplied

"Yes," Recluse nodded.

I considered that. "Well, I will be... and you will be too. I was trying to tell you so before. This place is unstable. I have very little control over it at present, and I'm certain you've noticed the tremors."

They all nodded.

"You came here for knowledge, yes? And you think I intend to deceive you, but what if... what if I am telling the truth? I paused.

They hesitated again.

"Well, we can do this one of two ways. I help you, and you help me, and we all get out of here together. Or you three continue destroying my house on your own, and I do my damnedest to make you regret it until the Wyld swallows us all."

They considered that offer. Recluse and Sapphire both glanced in the direction of their leader.

"Tell us what to do," Loren decided.


	4. Chapter 4

Tea for Bears

4 – The Great Escape

I began to explain my plan. Sapphire skillfully reproduced a map of my entire island which I brought up on the terminal screen, and Recluse scribbled notes about the locations of the constructs and weapon systems that I couldn't access.

"It will be easiest to go through the library," I explained. "But I will need some way of staying with you. Nothing is working correctly, and really don't know what you will run into. I didn't know about the snakebud tree. And with the Wyld coming in..."

Loren grimaced. "Himitsu has gone too far this time. He didn't have to take our weapons." He glanced down at what was left of his shoddy blade, and Sapphire checked her firewands.

"Himitsu _always _goes too far. And anyway, these aren't terrible," she confessed.

"Yes, but you'd rather have your own firewands?" Recluse prompted.

"Is that even a question?" Sapphire rolled her eyes. "And as much as I hate to admit it, dealing with all of these constructs would be much easier if we had our own incredibly irritating AI."

"She's not incredibly irritating," Recluse replied, presumably defending the AI in question.

"You're biased," Sapphire told him.

"Tess, where is your armory?" Loren asked. Although I'd already warned Recluse not to address me with such familiarity, both he and Loren had persisted in doing so. They both seemed to think that they knew me, but I didn't recognize either of them, and that was very troubling. Still, there wasn't time for dozens of personal questions. I decided to suppress my curiosity.

I sighed and answered Loren's question. "The armory won't do you much good, I'm afraid. You'll have to go through it to get to me. It's one room over from where I am. But I... I can't control any of the constructs in there."

"So what is in there?" Sapphire wondered.

"At least four Vigilant Guardians. Beyond that, I don't know," I admitted.

Loren twitched slightly. When he was annoyed, he reminded me very much of someone I had once known. "Well, I think that's the best we can do from here. We should be able to make it to the library if we stay in rooms Sapphire has marked. It's not the most direct route, but you should be able to watch us most of the way."

"That's all I ask. It's nerve-wracking being down here all alone," I admitted. The words were out of my mouth before I realized how pathetic I sounded.

"Oh, I bet it is," Sapphire nodded. She actually sounded sympathetic, which surprised me. Since the three had heard me crying, they'd changed their attitude completely. Apparently, they no longer thought I was a Deathlord... whatever that actually was.

The floor rumbled slightly. It was just a little tremor, but they were becoming much more frequent.

"Before you go," I said, as they headed for the door. "What... happened?"

"The Usurpation?" Sapphire obviously guessed what I was worried about, "It's a long story."

"Condense it for me, please," I replied.

"We'd better not," Loren bit his lip. "Right now, we need you watching over us, Tess, and you've got to keep a clear head. Once we find you, I promise we'll tell you everything.

I didn't like that answer, but he was right. There was no use worrying about things I couldn't control.

I waited in the dark for what felt like a very long time. In order to divert as much power as I could to the shields which were holding back the Wyld, I'd shut down all of the nonessential systems that I could, which included the lights in my laboratory. There was a faint glow emanating from the terminal that loomed over my head, but otherwise it was as black as a tomb.

A scratching sound caught my attention, and I saw that one of my drones had activated. When I brought it up on the screen, I hoped that Loren and the others were approaching, but all I saw was a little, bright-colored lizard. It was some sort of Wyld creature, and very pretty, although the fact that it was in my house meant that my defenses weren't nearly what I thought they were.

"Well now, aren't you darling!" I exclaimed.

The lizard licked the camera lens with its long pink tongue. "So what is this strange talking thing? You've no idea, but you're not afraid of it, are you? You know, I might like to keep you for a pet."

A mouse suddenly scurried past, and the lizard froze. Then, like something out of a nightmare, it completely unhinged it's jaw and shot out its neck like a snake, swallowing the screaming mouse whole.

"Ah. On second thought, _no. G_o back to the Wyld, you horrible little fiend,_" _I grimaced.

"There's something in the closet," Sapphire observed.

"Yes! Yes there is!" I shouted. "Let me out!"

"You're not going to shoot at us, are you?" Loren wondered.

"No, it's just a surveillance drone. But there is some sort of... lizard thing in here. And it appears to be getting _bigger._"

I stared at the lizard. It had grown considerably, and was now the size of a cat.

"On the count of three," Loren instructed. "We're opening the door. One, two... three."

The lizard gave a low growl. Recluse swore as it leapt out of the closet, nearly taking him to the ground. Sapphire shot it twice, and Loren finally stopped it by impaling it through the back of the neck. The lizard flailed, and I realized that he'd actually driven his blade into my marble floor. _That _was an impossible feat.

"Who are you people?" I demanded. Recluse picked up my drone with a slight smile.

"You really don't know, do you, Tess?" He teased.

"I've told you not to call me that," I retorted. "We're not friends."

"Yes we are," he informed me, although he did not bother to explain himself.

I scowled.

Being carried felt odd. My perception bumped up and down, and the hallway looked strange. It was a little like being drunk. We reached the doors of my dining hall, and Sapphire slowly pushed them open. She gasped.

It was an impressive space. I'd designed it that way intentionally, with a long, sleek, mahogany table and tall columns of fine red marble... but the window was probably the room's most impressive feature. Just beyond the bounds of my shield, the chaos of the Deep Wyld raged. It was at once beautiful and absolutely terrifying.

"Lovely portrait," Recluse observed, noticing the painting at the end of the hall. It wasn't as large or dramatic as the one in the ballroom, but it certainly drew attention. I'd framed it simply and hung it in a very prominent location, specifically so everyone who saw it would ask me about it.

"That's me. A very, very long time ago," I admitted.

"The Primordial War?" Recluse asked.

"I was created for it. All Solars were," I explained. "Three hundred of us, in the beginning of time. The war was devastating, like nothing you can imagine. And when it was over, the Incarnae became the rulers of Heaven. We Exalts were not so fortunate. We were given Creation to rule, but almost all of us had been killed. There were only seven survivors of the final battle. For awhile, we took care of everything on our own. I ruled the West. Caspian and Aristedes ruled the South. Merela founded Meru. Bright Shattered Ice held the North. Alexander the Faeslayer and Perfect Mechanical Soul watched our heartlands, and the East. Those first years, before the others began to return? It was _such _a time! The Deliberative may have been great, but its foundation was _glorious!_"

"We know," Loren smiled slightly.

"You three _do _seem to know an awful lot about Solars. Who do you serve?" I asked.

Loren and Recluse glanced at one another, and they both laughed. It it was a legitimate question I had asked, and I didn't understand why the two of them thought it was so funny.

A huge quake sent the chandelier crashing down into the table, and as we all watched, three massive tendrils of Wyld reached out like the arms of an octopus and seized my island, breaking a piece off the far northern end and swallowing it up. The power went out, and when it came back on, I surveyed the damage.

"Well, there goes the tea house," I said, for the sake of saying something.

"You seem to be taking this rather well," Loren observed.

"Didn't you want me to stay calm?" I retorted.

"My apologies," he bowed slightly.

"Down the hallway to the left," I instructed. "Let's not waste any more time."

They went.

The first room adjoining the dining hall was Desmond's trophy room. I'd always found the place rather disturbing, but Desmond was fond of hunting and had amassed quite the collection of monsters, which he had stuffed and mounted on every wall.

"What _is _that?" Sapphire stared at the teeth of a huge, snarling creature set in the far corner.

"I've no idea," I admitted. "I've never been one for collecting trophies. Although I did make... one exception."

Loren slowly opened the doors of my library. He stared in awe, not that I blamed him.

More than a hundred floors of books filled the central tower, and construct librarians were busily shelving and cataloging them. None of the Wyld taint had crept into the heart of my sanctuary. The sheer quantity of Essence flowing through the place made the air feel heavy, and whole massive room was illuminated by a huge fragment of iridescent blue crystal, two hundred feet tall and suspended in midair, held by the most powerful arcane force field ever created. The crystal flared with light, and the floor beneath our feet shook. The bound soul was struggling against the bounds I had placed upon it, fighting to escape its physical form and rejoin the Wyld.

"Sun-in-Glory," Sapphire whispered.

"The heart of a primordial," I smiled smugly. Mother's heart was a beautiful thing. Although it still saddened me that she had been shattered into pieces like Malfeas, it felt nice to have a part of her close to me.

Recluse swore. For a monk, he had quite a colorful vocabulary. Some of the explicatives he used could make a mugger blush.

"This is... quite a bit more than I expected," Loren admitted. "It would take us _centuries_ to search this library."

"Nonsense!" I argued. "Every book in my collection is stored within I AM. What is it that you're looking for anyway? Your "research"?" I prompted.

"A map to the souls the Weeping Maiden," Recluse replied.

"Mother's souls?" I blinked in surprise. "Well, this is one of them," I explained, gesturing to the crystal. "But how do you even know her name?"

"Tess, one of her other souls has been set free. Right now, she's trying to put herself back together. She has an insane Solar, a very dangerous Sidereal, a Deathlord, and possibly one of the Maidens helping her. We're not sure what they're planning, but it can't be good for Creation," he replied.

I considered all of that. "Have you three considered that you might be in over your heads?"

Sapphire laughed. "Lady, this kind of stuff happens to us_ all the time_!"

"So, about the map?" Recluse pressed.

"It's here. I'll give it to you when you get to me. It's my insurance, you understand?" That wasn't a lie. Through the maze of tea cups on the lid of my casket, I could see the very map the three were looking for, lying right on my desk.

"You're impossible," Recluse informed me.

I smiled at that. "You three are trying to destroy a primordial. Did you expect it to be _easy?_"

He didn't respond, but he looked somewhat insulted.

The drone Recluse carried made a horrible screeching noise as the three started down the stairs. I covered my ears and gritted my teeth.

"Agh!" I cursed.

"What's the matter, Tess?" Loren asked.

"Don't you hear that?" I demanded. The screeching hadn't stopped. "The drone is picking up something. I'm not sure how close it is but..." I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence. The last thing I heard was an ear-piercing shriek, followed by the sound of Sapphire's firewands.

Everything went dark.

"Gods, _please _don't be dead!" The rumbling was steadily increasing. There were almost no pauses between tremors. The Wyld was getting in, I could feel it, and the three of them were _so close _I could almost taste my freedom. It seemed terribly unfair to have them die mere feet away from my door, but then again, they _were _only mortal.

"There, that should do it!" Recluse said.

My drone reactivated. At first, the picture was fuzzy, but then it cleared,

"Can you see us?" He asked.

"Yes! Oh, wonderful!" I exclaimed. "You fixed my drone?"

That was no small feat. Recluse smiled. "Yes I did."

"Very impressive!" I realized immediately that he had done more than simply reattach the viewing lens. The device was actually mobile again. It leapt into the air and turned quite easily. I stopped as I saw Loren and Sapphire. They were both covered in slime, and the huge purple corpse of something unspeakably horrible was lying a few feet away, between the toppled bookcases of aisle "Zo" and "Zy".

"What is that?" I stared.

"Flying hagfish," Sapphire supplied.

"Egh. Repulsive," I grimaced. "Well, on a happier note... here we are!"

"So this is the armory?" Loren observed, staring up at the formidable doors.

"Yes. And this drone will deactivate as soon as those doors are opened," I explained. "A... precautionary measure. I'm sure there are at least a few Vigilant Guardians in there which you can probably disable... but whatever else you find... well, good luck."

Loren sighed and stepped forward to push the doors. The drone deactivated. For a moment I thought that they were safe, that nothing had happened... but then I heard shots fired. A horrendous racket of explosions, screeches, and crashes followed, each one causing me to wince.

"I said _disable_! _Disable_, not melt and crush!" I shouted, not that anyone could hear me.

Then it got quiet. I began to worried that my rescuers had gotten killed. The stone floor under my casket began to crack, and I could hear the wailing howl of the Wyld drawing closer and closer. It did not like that I had bound it and forced it to serve me for so long, and now I would pay for my arrogance.

I had reached the end of the line. I had almost prepared myself for death when I heard the whisper of my door opening. I tried to sit up and immediately conked my head. Dozens of teacups slid off the lid of my casket and shattered on the floor.

"I AM, report!" I ordered.

"Power Core Malfunction. Power at 60% and dropping. Wyld Shield 40%."

The crack in the stone widened, and my casket began to tip. It flipped on its side and the lid fell off. Planting my feet as firmly as I could and gripping the edges of the crystal so tightly that my fingers bled, I stared down into a maw of howling Wyld.

After being asleep for so long, I felt unforgivably weak. I began to slide, to lose my grip, and the rumbling was only getting worse. A strong hand reached down and seized my wrist. With everything I had left, I kicked away from the casket as it fell. Desmond's device tumbled after my prison, and I almost reached for it, but another pair of hands heaved me up and put me on my feet.

I stumbled and fell forward, but I didn't hit the ground. I looked up at Loren and Recluse, who both smiled and looked down at me. I'd treated them rather like insects when I could see them from beyond their reach, through the eyes of all of my constructs, but actually seeing them in person...

It was all very different somehow, more real than it had been only moments before. I almost started to cry.

"The map!" Recluse exclaimed as my desk shifted, and most of its contents spilled into the Wyld.

"Forget the map! We have to get out of here now!" Sapphire ordered.

I could barely run, but Loren dragged me along after him. As we burst through the doors of my armory, I stared in horror at the pile of melted slag, all that remained of my Vigilant Guardians.

"What have you done to my babies?" I gasped.

"You can build more later!" Loren retorted. He tugged on my arm, and I didn't have the strength to resist him. A huge tremor shook the entire building, and chunks of stone came crashing down on us.

"I AM, report!" I ordered.

"Drones Offline… Wyld Shield 30% Wyld Shield 20%."

"The hangar!" I pointed. "We'll take my warbird!"

No one argued with me, not that I had expected them to. We passed a servitor with a cup of tea, standing idly in the corridor. I seized the cup from its hand and drank it down. The tea was even more horrible than I'd expected, but the taste of it reminded me of something very important. I was _alive. _

"Thanks for nothing, you stupid piece of junk!" I pitched the cup at the servitor with as much force as I could and it shattered. The servitor's head drooped and I heard a familiar grinding noise. Blades extended from its arms.

I was too slow to get out of the way, but Loren parried the construct's attack. Two drones zoomed into the room, and I could hear the heavy clank of footsteps down the hall.

"Oh, wonderful! _Now you're all_ working!" I cursed.

"What's going on?" Loren asked.

A Vigilant Guardian stomped the corner, and immediately fired upon us. Loren shoved me into Recluse, and Sapphire flattened herself against the nearest wall. She only glanced once before returning fire, but she somehow managed to drop both of her targets. It was a very impressive feat, and not for the first time I found myself wondering just who my mysterious rescuers really were. If I'd truthfully been asleep for over a thousand years drifting in the Deep Wyld, no one could have stumbled upon my island by accident. No one ordinary went _into_ the Wyld of their own volition. Perhaps I had underestimated them all.

"Why is everything attacking us?" Sapphire demanded.

"The entire system is malfunctioning. It thinks we're intruders!" I shouted back, dunking an Essence burst. Although I was still unsteady on my feet, fear gave me some strength. I could also do something I hadn't been able to do from within my crystalline prison. I put my hands together and spoke the words of a powerful Charm, one that I hadn't invoked in a terribly long time. Essence coursed through my body, and golden light exploded from my fingertips. The constructs all froze as I forced my will upon them.

"_Dismantle!" _I ordered. They exploded into their component parts, and as I drew my hand back, piles of metal plates and bolts clattered to the floor.

I felt much more drained than I should have after that small exertion, and I almost stumbled again. I'd committed far more energy than I'd realized to all of the constructs and drones I'd used, not counting what Desmond's artifact and the crystalline casket had taken out of me.

One measly Charm, and my Caste Mark was actually flickering. In a way, it made me feel young again.

"I AM, Emergency Protocol One!" I ordered. The orichalcum spider dangling from my necklace flickered, changing from red to yellow as my systems began transferring all of their data to the little jewel I wore around my neck. We all scrambled into the nearest warbird, and before I could get into the pilot's seat, the ship began to rise from its moorings. Sapphire had taken the controls.

"Do you know how to fly this thing?" I demanded.

"A Dragonblood could fly this! It's a _warbird, _not a Swift Shrike!" She rolled her eyes.

"Wyld Shield! Wyld Shield!" I gasped as we crashed through the roof of my hangar.

"They're already up, sit down!" Loren ordered, pushing me into a chair. Feeling utterly helpless, I watched out the window as my home crumbled into fragments of golden light. Mother's heart broke free of its moorings and came crashing down through the floors of my library. As the power failed, the last vestiges of my shield dissipated and my entire island disintegrated into the Wyld.

Recluse gave a low whistle. I glanced at my spider and smiled slightly at its steady green go.

"_Data transfer complete." _I AM whispered, and then fell silent for the last time.

"Well, that was certainly exciting," I paused. "Now I would appreciate it if you could take me to Meru," I admitted. "Frankly, I'm too exhausted to work sorcery and as I'm sture you know, the Deliberative can't run for a day without I AM. I have to transfer all of this data immediately." I gestured to my spider.

There was a moment of silence. Everyone stared at me. They all looked uncomfortable, and I realized that I had sorely underestimated gravity of situation I'd found myself in. When I caught sight of my reflection in the glass of my windows, I was troubled by how _old _I looked.

Of course, I'd already been old when I'd gone into stasis, and then I'd spent a considerable amount of time frozen, so perhaps it shouldn't have shocked me the way that it did. I'd have to resume my usual regimen of age staving cordials right away. Even then, I might not have a lot of time left, perhaps only a few centuries. My life's work utterly destroyed, all of the knowledge I had collected condensed into the tiny spider around my neck.

It was a lot to come to grips with, but after spending a few weeks banging on the lid of a glass casket, I actually felt rather fortunate.

"So... it really has been 1,500 years?" I paused.

Recluse nodded solemnly.

"What's this Usurpation business?" I asked, remembering the word that Sapphire had used.

"Well, the short version it, there is no Deliberative," Loren explained. "The Dragonbloods revolted. Every Solar was killed. And for over a thousand years, not one came back. The world is very different now. All of history has been rewritten. Most people believe that Solars are Anathema. Demons. They hunt them down, and they kill them if they can. So much has been lost. Half of the people in Creation have nothing. Disease and violence run rampant. The Wyld is expanding everywhere, devouring the borders that the Deliberative created. It's a very dark time. Now do you understand why I didn't want to tell you before?"

I gaped at him. I couldn't find any words to say. I'd prepared myself for a lot of things my rescuers might say, but _that _was beyond anything I could have imagined. "This... this is preposterous!"

"Oh, we feel your pain," Sapphire laughed.

"No, I really don't think that you..." I began.

Recluse cut me off. "Tess, _please_! We _do_ understand."

He took my hand and gently closed his over it. "How... how do you know me?" I whispered feebily.

"It was a glorious age," Recluse replied. "I wish I could remember more of it."

I blinked in surprise. "Perfect? Oh gods, I _knew it!_" I turned to Loren. "_Alexander_?"

"We're not the same people we were," Loren reminded me, as if that was something I didn't know. I'd seen nearly all of my fellow Solars reincarnate before. I understood well enough how it worked.

"But you're all Solars? No servitors, no weapons... Gods, she doesn't even have _shoes_!" I protested, pointing at Sapphire.

The three glanced at each other, and they all laughed.

"So that's it? I'm a fugitive now? Sun-in-Glory, I'd rather be locked in that casket!" I sighed. That wasn't the truth, of course, but it felt rather liberating to say it.

I knew the moment we crossed back into Creation. The natural flow of Essence immediately caught my attention, and although my manse had supplied me with far _more _power, the strength I drew from the sun felt different. Better, I suspected.

And as I gazed up at the cloudless sky, I finally understood why Desmond had wanted a real dog. There was something very liberating about _not _being in control.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You think you're coming with us?" Loren smiled slightly.

"This _is _my warbird!" I reminded him. "And I still have your research!" I taunted Recluse, dangling my spider.

"So you admit to stealing it?" He put his hands on his hips, and that gesture made him look very much like his previous incarnation.

I _had _appropriated some of Perfect's work on Artificial Intelligence, as well as her map to the imprisoned souls of the Weeping Maiden. "I admit _nothing_," I smirked. "Honestly, why would I steal your research?"

"You may be an expert when it comes to terra-forming, but you don't know _everything_, Tess_!_" Recluse retorted. "I read your treatise on bio-genesis. Absolute rubbish! It ought never had been published!"

"Excuse me, but which one of us is the Chief Archivist?" I taunted. "Ah, yes. I thought so!"

"You're not Chief Archivist anymore," he reminded me. "There's no Deliberative!"

"And you're not _Perfect _anymore, so if you think about it... it's not really _your _research, is it?" I retorted. "A whole new lifetime, my dear rival... and you are _still _second-rate!"

"You arrogant bitch! We should have left you in that box!" He said, though not without a smile on his face.

Sapphire gave a low whistle. "This is going to be a _long _flight."


End file.
